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Bob Costa had a nice recap of the Toomey budget yesterday at The Corner.
First, let me say how much I appreciate the thoughtful effort that Senator Toomey and co-sponsors Burr, Coburn, and Vitter put into the budget, which looks like a serious attempt to bring the budget in balance by 2020 by pegging federal spending to 18.5% of GDP, reforming the tax code, and cutting spending. That serious leaders such as Coburn, Rubio, and DeMint spoke at its release is saying something.
But it just seems strange that Medicare was left out, especially since the bill's authors would have known it would become an issue.
Speakers at the press conference reportedly said the following when asked about the Ryan plan:
Toomey: "It is my view that a permanent solution to the fiscal challenges that we face will require broader reforms than what we have in this budget,” he said. “But this budget represents what we think of as a necessary first step; it reaches a balance."
DeMint: "I think most of us here support Paul Ryan’s plan in the ten-year window."
Rubio: "This is a ten-year budget and certainly it could accommodate structural changes that save Medicare."
So, the question remains: why not keep the GOP united and present the same Medicare plan that Ryan proposed? Supporting the Ryan Medicare plan in principle but not in the budget makes Senate Republicans look too political or too weak - it doesn't make them look pragmatic and ready for a Senate compromise. The Dems will never support what's in their budget anyway.
The Democrats seem poised to proposed a $2 trillion tax increase in their budget, which won't go over well with voters. So maybe the Republicans want to propose an alternative that will. But given the egregious nature of what the Dems are doing, why not go all the way and include Medicare?
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